x
Breaking News
More () »

California to shut second prison as inmate population dwindles

California officials plan to close one of two inmate firefighter training centers next year.
Credit: AP
FILE - In this Oct. 26, 2019, file photo, inmate firefighters battle the Kincade Fire in unincorporated Sonoma County near Geyservillle, Calif. A decade after prison crowding forced California to realign its criminal justice system, the population has shrunk to the point that officials on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, announced they will close one of the state's two inmate firefighter training centers along with portions of two other prisons, the second such announcement in months. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The population in what once was the nation’s largest state correctional system has shrunk so low that California officials plan to close one of two inmate firefighter training centers next year. 

They said Tuesday that the California Correctional Center in the rural northeastern part of the state will close by July 2022.

It's the second such prison closure announced in recent months. 

The population drop comes after a decade of changes to the state's sentencing laws. But it is most recently driven by population changes due to the pandemic. That has inmates’ attorneys worrying that crowding could eventually again become a problem.

Click here to read more.

WATCH NEXT: Carr Fire: Inmate firefighters in California working the Carr Fire

ABC10’s Ananda Rochita hiked the mountains near Redding to get a glimpse of the more than 500 inmates fire crews who are working alongside firefighters in an effort to extinguish the Carr Fire outside Redding. (2018)

Before You Leave, Check This Out